Lamps having a capability for generating a vapor are well known in the art. The vapor may be a perfume or fragrance, a disinfectant, a deodorizer or any other desired vapor. Lamps in which an attachment to the lamp contains a liquid that is vaporized by heat from the lamp, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,535,486 issued Apr. 28, 1925 to Lundy, 1,556,680 issued Oct. 13, 1925 to Dorment, 1,403,548 issued Jan. 17, 1922 to Gudeman and 4,074,111 issued Feb. 14, 1978 to Hunter. The Lundy patent also discloses an electric lamp having a depression that is heated with an auxiliary heating element and can contain perfumes and other scent-generating materials in fluid, paste or powder form.
Lamps having an absorbent carrier mounted around the neck of the bulb are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,920,599 issued Aug. 1, 1933 to Schuh, 2,468,164 issued Apr. 26, 1949 to Brewster, 2,539,696 issued Jan. 30, 1951 to Morrison, 2,741,812 issued Apr. 17, 1956 to Tellier and 2,238,476 issued Apr. 15, 1941 to Monteith. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,347 issued Oct. 2, 1973 to Whitaker, a lamp is coated with minute capsules containing a vaporizable material. Lamps having separate scent-generating units are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,535,802 issued Dec. 26, 1950 to Libson, 4,009,384 issued Feb. 22, 1977 to Holland and 4,493,011 issued Jan. 8, 1985 to Spector. Lamps having a scent-generating capsule adhered to the outer surface of the lamp envelope are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,544,592 issued Oct. 1, 1985 to Spector and 4,647,433 issued Mar. 3, 1987 to Spector.
A scent-generating lamp utilizing a collar formed of a polyamide resin containing perfumes or other scent generating volatile materials is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,099 issued Jan. 15, 1980 to Lindauer et al. polyamide resins containing volatile materials are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,926,655 issued Dec. 16, 1975 to Miles and 4,051,159 issued Sept. 27, 1977 to Tsoucalas et al.
All of the known prior art scent generating lamps have had one or more disadvantages. The lamps using a liquid for producing a scent are inconvenient to use and create a risk of lamp breakage when the liquid comes into contact with a hot lamp envelope. There is also a risk of personal injury from spilled hot liquids. In some units, the scent-producing device blocks a significant portion of the light output from the lamp, while in others, the scent-producing device has a limited life and requires refilling or replacement after a short time. Many of the units have associated safety hazards and are relatively complex and expensive in construction.
It a general object of the present invention to provide improved vapor generating lamps.
It is another object of the present invention to provide scent-generating lamps that are free of safety hazards.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide scent generating lamps that produce a scent over a long period of time.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide scent-generating lamps that are easy to use.